Tony Kushner is an American playwright and screenwriter. Kushner is known for his stage work on Broadway and his film collaborations with Steven Spielberg. He has received several accolades including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, and two Tony Awards as well as nominations for four Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Grammy Award. Kushner is also the recipient of various honorary awards including the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama in 2013.
Kushner has been lauded for his work on stage, most notably known for his seminal work, the two-part American epic play Angels in America, about the AIDs crisis in New York City during the 1980s. The play's first part, Angels in America: Millennium Approaches debuted on Broadway in 1993 and its second part Angels in America: Perestroika debuted in 1994. Both parts earned individual consecutive Tony Awards for Best Play and Kushner earned the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play also ran in London's West End earning nominations for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play. Kushner adapted his play Angels in America for television, into a HBO six part limited series of the same name directed by Mike Nichols in 2003 earning the Humanitas Prize, the Primetime Emmy Award, the Writers Guild Award of America.
Kushner also wrote the book for the musical Caroline, or Change which made its Broadway debut in 2004 earning two Tony Award nominations for Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score. The musical ran in London earning the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical in 2007. Kushner was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards.
On film, Kushner has collaborated with director Steven Spielberg, writing four of his films. Their first collaboration was the historical action drama Munich which he co–wrote with Eric Roth. The two earned nominations for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay. Kushner then adapted the Doris Kearns Goodwin historical novel Team of Rivals into the Spielberg historical drama Lincoln (2012), earning the Paul Selvin Award and the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as well as nominations for the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, and Writers Guild of America for Best Screenplay.
Kushner earned acclaim for adapted the 1961 musical West Side Story for Spielberg into the 2021 musical of the same name earning nominations for the Critics' Choice Award and the Writers Guild of America Award. Kushner served as a producer on the Spielberg's semi-autographical coming-of-age film The Fabelmans (2022) for which they were nominated for the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award and Critics' Choice Movie Award for their screenplay. The film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama.
Major associations Academy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result Ref.2005 Best Adapted Screenplay Munich 2012 Lincoln 2022 Best Picture The Fabelmans Best Original Screenplay
BAFTA Awards Year Category Nominated work Result Ref.British Academy Film Awards 2012 Best Adapted Screenplay Lincoln 2022 Best Original Screenplay The Fabelmans
Emmy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result Ref.Primetime Emmy Award2004 Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, or Movie Angels in America
Golden Globe Awards Year Category Nominated work Result Ref.2005 Best Screenplay Munich 2012 Best Screenplay Lincoln 2022 Best Screenplay The Fabelmans
Grammy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result Ref.2023 Best Musical Theatre Album Caroline, Or Change
Laurence Olivier Awards Year Category Nominated work Result Ref.1992 Best New Play Angels in America 1994 Best New Play Angels in America: Perestroika 2007 Best New Musical Caroline, or Change
Tony Awards Year Category Nominated work Result Ref.1993 Best Play Angels in America: Millennium Approaches 1994 Best Play Angels in America: Perestroika 2004 Best Book of a Musical Caroline, or Change Best Original Score
Miscellaneous Organizations Year Category Work Result Ref. Critics' Choice Awards 2012 Best Adapted Screenplay Lincoln 2021 Best Adapted Screenplay West Side Story 2022 Best Original Screenplay The Fabelmans Drama Desk Award 1993 Outstanding Play Angels in America: Millennium Approaches 1994 Outstanding Play Angels in America: Perestroika 2004 Outstanding Book of a Musical Caroline, or Change Pulitzer Prize 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Drama Angels in America: Millennium Approaches Writers Guild of America Award 2005 Long Form - Adapted Angels in America 2012 Best Adapted Screenplay Lincoln Paul Selvin Award 2021 Best Adapted Screenplay West Side Story 2022 Best Original Screenplay The Fabelmans
Honorary awards Organizations Year Award Result Whiting Foundation 1990 Whiting Award PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation 2002 Theater Award National Foundation of Jewish Culture 2004 Cultural Achievement Award American Academy of Arts and Letters 2005 Member Steinberg Prize 2008 Distinguished Playwright Puffin/Nation Prize 2011 Creative Citizenship Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship , official website. Saint Louis University 2012 St. Louis Literary Award Writers Guild of America 2012 Paul Selvin Award American Philosophical Society 2013 Elected Member The Lincoln Forum 2013 Richard Nelson Current Achievement Award The Lincoln Forum
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